The present invention relates to a head support for vehicle seats, particularly motor vehicle seats, which includes a vertically adjustable padded support also adjustable in different swiveling positions. The padded support is connected by means of a swiveling device and a vertical adjusting device with a vertically non-adjustable fixture which is connected to the back of the seat.
In the case of a known head support of the aforementioned general type, the fixture consists of two elastic clamps clipped on the back of the seat from above and a plate connecting the two clamps with each other in the area of the ridge section. In the center of the plate, there are provided two U-section pieces comprising a swiveling device, the two shanks of which are interlocking. The two U-section pieces are connected to each other by means of the swiveling axle. The vertical adjusting device supports a plate serving as a padded support, consists of two telescopically interlocking parts and is connected with the section piece which can be swiveled vis-a-vis the plate. Such head support no longer fulfills contemporary safety requirements, not only because of the plate-shaped padded support but particularly because of an insufficient connection with the back of the seat. The forces exerted on the head support in the case of an accident can actually be such that they can only be safely transmitted to the back of the seat if the fixture has at least one support bar engaging into a guide connected with the frame of the back of the seat. Even so, head supports with one or two support bars are not free from disadvantages. If the bars are arranged in their guide for longitudinal sliding for the purpose of the vertical adjustment of the head support, there then exists the danger, if no special precautions are taken, that the lower end of the bar in the lower area of the vertical adjustment of the head support is so near to the rear surface of the back of the seat that, in case of an accident, a person who is thrown against such rear surface can thus be injured by the bars. If the bars are connected with the back of the seat in a vertically adjustable manner, then, in the case of the known head supports, either the swiveling device or the vertical adjusting device is disposed outside the head support and the back of the seat and thus in an area against which a person can be thrown should an accident occur.